Im starting to get the hang of my stove. For those that don't know me its a 8012 Mansfield. During the initial burn with secondaries firing and the stove cruising I normally have the air intake either totally closed or very close to totally closed. I have found out there is no need to constantly be stuffing wood into the box and I can go many hours between filling the stove. Yesterday I filled the box about 11pm and today it was in the low 40's and my thermo stovetop fan did not totally stop spinning until about 3pm and it was 67 degrees inside still. I think I have been wasting a ton of wood. My question is... Once the fuel has stopped producing a secondary burn, what should I do with the air control? Leave it totally closed, crack it open? Thanks guys.
Air control after initial burn
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Sawset
Minister of Fire
We're now on a twice a day rotation. Load in the morning 4am, stove is in its own till 4pm. Repeat. Once it's up to temp, and door/damper shut, hands of for the duration.
redktmrider
Burning Hunk
You can leave it closed which will extend the time the coals last, or open it up to get more heat out of them and burn them down quicker before re-loading. Also, raking the coals foward will burn the coals faster than leaving them in the back of the firebox.
Sounds like you got it. There are a lot of variables, that have to be considered every day. Basically how hot you need to be running it to keep stable comfortable temps. If i'm doing it right you can't tell the stove is the only heat in the house. It does take more wood to keep the house hotter.
At the end of a burn, such as a night when you decide to let it go out, I look at the bed of coals. If the stove is only hot coals I can leave the air choked down, and it's all gone. But If there's mostlly wood, it might burn out and smolder. So open the air so it's all gone in the morning. Thats my stove, wood, draft, etc. yours may be different.
At the end of a burn, such as a night when you decide to let it go out, I look at the bed of coals. If the stove is only hot coals I can leave the air choked down, and it's all gone. But If there's mostlly wood, it might burn out and smolder. So open the air so it's all gone in the morning. Thats my stove, wood, draft, etc. yours may be different.
Yeah, I agree with xman23. It also depends on what you are trying to get out of your stove - the longest burn or the cleanest burn.
My stove has a small firebox and a chimney a bit on the short side. When the initial strong secondary burn is completed, I usually open the air a bit more, maybe a quarter initially to get the secondaries firing again and keep the stovetop at 500 degrees, then maybe to half open to make sure the wood at the back of the stove is burned well (and clean). If I have a reasonable load with decent hardwoods, I might get 1-1/2 hours with strong secondaries, then another 1 hour with weaker secondaries with the air at 3/4 and then 1/2 open and by the end of that the stovetop is normally down to 400 degrees. I'll fiddle with this during the day if I am around. I currently live in a village area and there are houses close by, so I try to be as considerate as possible about reducing smoke smell, so this helps to keep the burn cleaner than it otherwise would be if I just left everything closed up.
If I've stuffed the firebox with maple and hickory, then my initial strong secondaries might be 2-1/4 hours and the weaker secondaries another 1-1/4 hour (or more). But otherwise, I'll follow the same playbook.
For overnight burns, I don't sweat it at all. I just close it all the way or to 90% to preserve some good coals for morning reload.
I'm looking forward to a new catalytic stove in my new house where I can maintain a clean and efficient burn for longer periods with less fiddling.
redktmrider
Burning Hunk
Before I had the Blaze King installed, I didn't know how easy wood heating could be, no getting up in the middle of the night to reload the stove!
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